


Half baked ideas

by SweetHigh



Category: Rooster Teeth/Achievement Hunter RPF
Genre: Angst, Casual Sex, F/M, Getting high, I promise these tags aren't as brutal as they sound so far, Oops, References to Drug Use, Stoner Ray, oh god you haven't read it yet and it already sounds awful
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-06-24
Updated: 2015-04-15
Packaged: 2018-02-06 00:17:58
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 13,367
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1837441
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SweetHigh/pseuds/SweetHigh
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Charlie, a 21 year old stoner who's determined to head into a successful career, is finally pulled away from her life in the ghettos of Arizona to her dream job at Rooster Teeth.  After being hired on as an editor for Achievement Hunter videos, she quickly fell into place with the team of 6, though her attention was always slightly shifted towards a certain Puerto Rican fellow.  When two weeks after meeting Ray go by, the two get high together, where the pair get into a conversation about how they're each emotionally unavailable yet physically open.  With unclear, in the cloud heads, they decide to start having casual sex.  Even the morning after they've come down, they stick to their baked decision of their secret relationship, never leaving room for the thought that was screaming at them: what could possibly go wrong?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Ahh, my first fanfiction. I've had this idea for quite some time now, but never had a chance to write it. I haven't actually written anything in a while, so the first few chapters may be a little rocky, but it will pick up as I swing back into writing mode. Also, I don't really have a feel for what the office looks like so I just sort of guessed. Sorry about that.

"Awesome. Thank you so much. You too." I could tell my friends and mom were tired of my pacing around the living room, eyes struggling to keep up with me. How could I not pace? Not only was I on the phone with someone who was about to tell me whether or not I got the job I have been dreaming of for years, but the person giving me the answer was none other than one of the co founders to the series of videos I have been following for years. Anxiety over the potential of getting a no and trying to contain my starstruck fangirling over talking to Burnie hit me stronger when I wasn't partially focused on wandering around the house. After Burnie's end of the line clicked, I lowered the phone from my ear and turned to face my family. They waited with hungry eyes, displeased at the dramatic pause I took before shouting "I got the job!" 

Dina was the first one to jump out of her chair and pull me into a tight hug. Ever since I moved in with my friend, Ali, and her family when I was 14, I was instantly accepted by Dina as one of her own children, and the proud squeeze she gave me as she hugged me said nothing different. I earned a high five from my brother(or rather who I've been calling my brother for the past 7 years) and an enthusiastic "Alright" from Ali 

"Two weeks from now, I'll be officially working at Rooster Teeth." I mused, enjoying the every last sound in the sentence. 

# ~ ~ ~

I sighed, staring at myself in the mirror to make sure I looked okay. I let my long, dyed white hair cover my excessively pierced ears, my make up minimal, just enough to hide the bags under my eyes that told the story of my lack of sleep over the past two weeks. I was nervous over my outfit, black slacks and a simple blue blouse. What if I was overdressed? Better yet, what if I was underdressed? What if I show up and my new boss, Geoff, doesn't approve of my crazily dyed hair and piercings? Granted, Geoff himself was littered in tattoos and didn't exactly fit the 'classy' mold himself, but would it be rude if it looked like I didn't consider my appearance?

' _You're about to visit the building you've always dreamed of visiting, meet the people you've dreamed of meeting, and work at the job you've dreamed about working at, and you're more worried about what you look like?_ ' I sighed again after mentally scolding myself, reaching for my bag and slinging it over my shoulder, then shoved my lanyard with my house key on it back into my bag after locking the door behind me, hearing the jingle of the keys hitting each other as the lanyard hung out of my bag. 

I walked past my car and through the parking lot, deciding that I was too anxious to wait around an extra half hour to drive to the building that was only a block or two away from my apartment. I was too busy playing on my phone as I walked to notice that the jingle of my keys stopped, continuing a nice stroll to the job. It was the middle of June, and I appreciated the weather, a nice break from the scorching overbearing heat of Arizona to the slightly less scorching heat of Texas, especially the cool breeze that tugged at my hair. A breeze in Arizona was equivalent to sticking a hair dryer to your face, and it was a pleasant surprise to learn that wind could actually be cooler than 120 degrees. 

I was almost too lost in thought to hear it, but I whipped around quickly when a voice piped up a couple feet behind me. "Excuse me." My eyes widened as I found the source of the voice, which was a man quickening his pace to catch up to me. _Oh shit_. I immediately recognized him as Ray, my lanyard hanging from his hand. I felt my cheeks begin to heat up. There he was, the man I watched behind a small screen now full sized and standing right in front of me, and just, _holy shit_. I wasn't even at the office yet, and already I was starstruck by one of my new coworkers. I briefly considered how overwhelming it was going to be to be in the same room as a whole group of them before he spoke up again. 

"Sorry to bother you, but I found this on the sidewalk behind you. Is this yours?" I smiled. 

"Yeah, it is. It's a good thing you found it, I just moved into a new apartment and it would have been embarrassing to explain to the super that I lost my key after the first week." I replied, earning a chuckle from Ray. He looked at the text that was sprawled across the lanyard before handing it back to me. 

" _Aperture Laboratories_. Portal fan?"

"Thanks." I muttered, taking it from him and opening my bag, making sure it was tucked in tight. "It's one of my favorite games. I'm still waiting for Gabe Newell to learn how to count to three so he can make a third one already." 

"You're probably going to have to wait another long while. Even after he learns, you know Half Life 3 is coming out first to finally end the jokes on the internet." I laughed. 

"I wouldn't blame him. It's been how many years since those jokes started up?" This got another giggle out of Ray. Wow. Talking to him wasn't as hard as I thought it was going to be. He started back down the street, but motioned for me to walk next to him. There was a moment of silence before he continued the conversation. 

"So where are you headed?" He asked, a sweet smile still spread across his lips. 

"First day at a new job." I explained. I decided not to bring up Rooster Teeth right away, and decided to let him piece it together himself with whatever I said about it during our walk there. "I honestly have no clue what I'm walking into. I got a brief description of what my job is, yet I have no idea what the office is like." Even if I had watched almost every single video they've put out, I realized after getting the job that I had no idea if the company was different off camera. 

"Sounds nerve wracking." He replied. 

_Yes, Ray. Yes it is._ I shrugged, hiding the anxiety that agreed with his statement. "It's not too bad, I'll figure it out." I leaned over and tapped his arm with my shoulder. "It's also better knowing I won't walk into the place by myself now." I noticed the flash in his eyes as he put two and two together. 

"You're working for Rooster Teeth now?" I nodded. "I heard we were getting a new employee. Your name's Charlotte, right?"

"I prefer Charlie, but you're right."

"Yeah, Geoff mentioned you the other day. Said we were getting someone new to help us edit Achievement Hunter videos." He paused for a moment, and I finally saw the building come into view from around the corner. We were only a few minutes away from the door, and my stomach contorted into a tight knot as I realized this. "Why didn't you tell me you were working for Rooster Teeth when we first started talking?"

I shrugged again. "You never asked." Ray let out a chuckle and shook his head in disbelief as we reached the door, stepping in front of me to hold the door open, gesturing for me to go inside. I took a deep breath. _Well, here we go_

.

After handing me off to Kara, who sat at the desk by the front door, Ray quickly said his goodbye and took off down the hall. I opened my mouth to say something to her when Geoff came out of the hall Ray had just gone down. 

"Hi, you must be Charlotte." He held his hand out to me and I shook it immediately. "I'm Geoff." 

"I prefer Charlie." I replied. Well, that was going to get annoying fast. 

"Well Charlie, your desk is right in front of the Achievement Hunter office." He began leading me down the hall as he spoke. "Your main job is just to edit whatever videos I send you, however it's not going to take up your entire day, so you'll also be assisting other people who need an extra hand throughout the day. I'll show you around before I show you to your desk." 

"So basically my job outside of editing is to be the office's bitch?" I joked, though I instantly regretted how inappropriate it sounded. Geoff didn't seem to mind though, and he even chuckled at it. 

"Now you're getting it!" He joked back, taking a right at the end of the hall. He walked me through offices and the studio where they filmed their podcasts, looping back around to the hall they started in but down to the left where the kitchen, a bathroom, and the Achievement Hunter office were. He lead me right into the Achievement Hunter office, where Michael, Ryan, Gavin and Jack were littered around the room, waiting for the day to start. Just an hour earlier, I could have sworn I was going to start hyperventilating at the sight of the internet celebrities, but after the conversations I had with Geoff and Ray earlier, and the friendly smiles and hellos I got from other employees around the building, I had relaxed a lot. Gavin and Ryan turned their heads to look at me immediately, while Michael and Jack hadn't noticed there was a stranger in the room with them until Geoff spoke up. 

"Alright guys, this is Charlie, the girl who's going to be taking over the desk outside." After announcing my presence to the room, he turned to me. "I'll be back in a minute to show you exactly what you need to do. For now, get acquainted. You're going to be seeing a lot of us." 

A small British voice chirped up the second Geoff left. "Isn't Charlie a boy's name?" 

"Gavin, shut the fuck up!" Michael yelled, scolding Gavin for his rude statement. I laughed, deciding to take a seat in one of the empty office chairs, recognizing it as Geoff's by the picture of Griffin sitting on the desk that accompanied the chair. I was never offended easily. 

"What? All I did was ask about her name!" He squawked, and I giggled again. 

"Don't worry about it, I get it a lot." I reply before Michael has time to yell at him again. "I mean, I guess Charlie's technically a boy's name, but who's checking?" I heard a chuckle from my right, and I turned to see Ryan enjoying the scene that was unfolding in front of him. 

"So where do you come from, Charlie?" Ryan asked after a moment of silence. 

"Arizona. I'm actually really glad that I left too, because the heat down there was killing me. It feels so much cooler down here in Texas."

"Cooler? It's only ten in the morning and it's already 85 degrees outside!" Michael replied in surprise. 

"Yeah, that's kind of the point," I retorted, nodding slowly. "Down in Arizona it'd already be about 100 by now."

" _It feels so much cooler here in Texas_ ," Jack repeated. "That's the first time I ever heard that sentence." 

A few minutes into the conversation Geoff returned and showed me to my desk, explaining the editing that had to be done that day. I nodded and got straight to work. My first day and I already felt much more comfortable than I thought I would feel after two weeks. Working at Rooster Teeth was already much less nerve wracking than I originally expected, and I smiled as I began to pick through the videos Geoff sent me.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, that first chapter didn't really turn out great. When I first wrote it, I actually took my time on it, trying to make it look at least half decent. When I finally got it typed up here, it looked ridiculously long, so I ended up cutting and editing the majority of it. And when I finally posted it, I facepalmed myself, realizing that it wasn't actually that long and I could have left everything in and it would have been fine. By that point it was already about 4 in the morning and I just got too frustrated and didn't bother to fix anything lol. Maybe if I stop being a little shit I can make better chapters, yeah?

My first week at Rooster Teeth flew by, and I was already having the time of my life. Everyone I had talked to was just so nice, it was easy to get along with my coworkers. Especially the six at Achievement Hunter. I had quite a bit of free time during the day, which I spent getting to know the boys. Gavin and I talked science, where our large span of knowledge in physics and chemistry were pretty evenly matched(Gavin honestly isn't as stupid as everyone makes him out to be, he just didn't know how to word what he was trying to express properly and everyone mistook it as him just rambling out dumb thoughts). Michael and I constantly fought over random video games, our polar opposite views and interests in games making for heated(yet friendly) debates. Geoff and I threw sassy remarks back and forth to each other, and while Jack and Ryan were more quiet and laid back than the others I had friendly conversations with them throughout the week, and even gave Ryan advice when he came to me about a plan to win the tower of pimps in the next Let's Play. 

And then there was Ray. We befriended each other by the end of the first day, sharing interests in internet trends, games and movies. Whenever the both of us had spare time, we played on his Xbox, where we both showed a skilled and extremely competitive nature. We each took a liking to the other's sarcastic attitude and sense of humor. We walked to and from work together after I learned that he not only lived in the same apartment complex as me, but in the room right below mine. By the beginning of the second week, Michael started teasing us about how we should 'just date already', which although I laughed along and threw the joke back in his face using Gavin as his lover boy, it upset me a little. I had absolutely no romantic intentions with Ray, and he didn't seem to have any with me, but as soon as the jokes started coming there was a faint hint of flirtation whenever we spoke to each other and a small sense of sexual tension began to rise. 

At the end of the second week, I had everything in my new apartment unpacked, and was finally able to take the time to just relax on the couch in my living room, my laptop open to a video chat with Ali. I was packing weed into the bowl of my pipe, getting ready to get high for the first time away from home. Ali made me promise to get high with her for the first time that we were away from each other over Skype, which I was finally able to sit down and do after three weeks of being gone. She was happily loading the bong I bought her on her 18th birthday, and after we were both finished we took our first hit at the same time. 

"I already miss being able to do this in person. This just isn't the same over Skype." She said as I took my second hit out of the large glass pipe, savoring the bittersweet burn of smoke in my throat. I nodded in agreement as she leaned down to flick the lighter past where the camera could see and placing her mouth on the bong. 

"Ugh, same." I replied, letting the smoke I took in slowly seep out of my mouth and nose rather than forcing it out. "Actually, scratch that. I miss being able to do this in _Arizona_. Not only do I live off of a limited supply here, but I'm still not even sure if I'm clear to smoke here. I don't know the apartment well enough to know how far the smell will spread, you know?And I don't know Texas well enough to find a safe spot to do it anywhere else." I paused, knowing Ali wouldn't be able to hear what I was saying over the bubbling water as she moved the bowl of her bong out of the way to suck up the collection of smoke in the camber. We took turns speaking long enough for the other to take a hit to avoid any silences. I continued to speak as Ali slowly exhaled. "Not to mention one of my freaking _coworkers_ to the dream job I finally got lives right below me and can probably smell the pot already." By the end of my second hit I was already melting into my high, and while a wave of euphoria washed over me, so did a twinge of nerves of potentially getting caught. If Ray realizes the strong smell was coming from my apartment, he could easily tell Geoff and get me fired as quickly as I was hired on. We were already developing a good friendship, but I didn't doubt for a second he would flip the moment he noticed my habit and turn on me. 

"Oh shut up, you'll be fine." Ali reassured me lazily as I took another hit. 

"I'm not so sure about that. I think my luck ran out after I managed to sneak over a pound of weed through both New Mexico and Texas borders." I laughed.

"I still can't believe you did that." A third voice chimed in, and I immediately recognized it as my mom as she took a seat next to Ali on the back porch, taking the bong and lighter out of her hand to join the two of us in getting high. How close Ali, mom and I were paired with the fact that our mom was an open stoner made it easy for us to express our illegal smoking to her, so it wasn't out of the ordinary to watch my mom take a hit while Ali and I were off smoking together. 

"Hi mom." I greeted her, chuckling at her random arrival and easy slide into the conversation. "What else was I supposed to do? It's not like I can have my dealer meet me two states over whenever I need an ounce, and it's not like it would have been any safer asking random people on the street if they're selling" 

My mom giggled at my small joke as smoke passed her lips. "Whatever. If you get caught and sent to jail, don't come crying to me." She joked back dryly. 

"Says the person smoking outside in broad daylight with a two story house right behind you with very available windows."

"Goddammit mom! You cashed out my bowl!" Ali shouted angrily, reaching for her bag to load another bowl. "How did you even manage to suck all that in? There was like three fourths of a bowl left in there."

Our mom simply held out her hands in the shape of devil horns, signaling 'rock on' as her brag to the large intake, beginning to laugh maniacally as she stepped back into the house. I began to laugh as Ali groaned, but the smile was quickly lost as faint sounds breached my ears. Was someone coming up the stairs to my apartment to yell at me for the marijuana or was I just imagining things?

"You're lucky I love you." I muttered after I took my fourth hit, trying to shake my fear of being caught. Ali just rolled her eyes as she loaded her second bowl. 

"So which one lives below you?" She asked. Although she didn't take much of a liking to Rooster Teeth, her countless hours on Tumblr left her familiar of the members. 

"Ray. You know, glasses, Peurto Rican, makes a lot of pot jokes?" 

"Yeah, I know the one. Why the hell are you worried about Ray? That guy's obviously a stoner."

"I doubt it. You're only ever confident making jokes about that sort of thing in front of not only your boss but the entire internet when you don't actually do it."

I started telling Ali about my first two weeks at my new job while I loaded a second bowl. However, just as I lit the new bowl there was a knock at my door. _shit_

"Hey, I'll call you back." I groaned, quickly shutting my laptop. I was glad for the coffee table I bought back in Arizona, where the tabletop lifted up to show a secret compartment. I set my pipe in there, grabbing the Febreeze and spraying around the room before throwing it back in and slamming the coffee table shut, heading for the door. I was hoping to play myself off as innocently smoking a cigarette, lighting one on my way across the room to the door. Though my 'delinquent teen' look didn't quite help the act I was about to put on, my white hair in a messy bun to show off my ears, displayed with what seemed like a pound of metal in jewelry. Since I didn't bother to wear make up, the dark bags under my eyes shouted loud and proud, and the large black hoodie and short black shorts just seemed to top off the stoner burn out look I was hoping to avoid. I just prayed as I turned the handle that anyone but Ray was behind the door. 

_Well speak of the fucking devil_

"Hey, Charlie." Ray greeted cheerfully. "A couple of the guys and I were going out to the bar tonight and we were wondering if you wanted to come along. " A huge weight was lifted off my shoulders as Ray didn't seem to notice, but that weight quickly shoved itself back onto me as he lifted his hand up to cover his nose. "Also, why does it smell like your apartment was visited by Snoop Dogg?"

Shit. Shit shit shit shit _shit_. While I wasn't too high to keep my cool, I was too high to notice the tone in his voice, unable to read a reaction on him. I nonchalantly took a drag from my cigarette.

"Although I don't like that my apartment smells like cigarettes, I'm too lazy to take it outside."I replied calmly, pretending not to notice the obvious joke about the connection between Snoop Dogg and weed. At least that sentence had some truth in it. I absolutely loathed the smell of cigarettes, hell, I didn't even smoke them, I just kept them around for times like these when I needed to excuse the smell. While it was sweet he came over to invite me to something they were doing on a Saturday, I was a little irritated. Was it really that hard just to pick up the phone? He had my number. 

Ray raised an eyebrow and held it there for what felt like hours. Well shit, I went wrong somewhere. Did I go into too much detail trying to excuse the smell? Did I not give enough detail? Had he questioned the fact that I didn't respond to his offer? _Hello? Ray? Care to respond sometime today?_

"Sure, Charlie, whatever you say." He laughed. "Mind if I join you? I can guarantee my shit's better."

# ~~~

"Okay Ray, I admit it, you have pretty good weed." An hour after Ray and I had finished off the bowl I was hiding from him and smoked two more of whatever he had, we were both baked. I felt relaxed enough to hold an honest conversation, yet I felt energetic and talkative, opening my mind up to critical thinking. Which is why I thought playing co-op in Portal 2 was a great idea. We sat together on my couch, a little of the space that should have been between instead on the other sides of us, as two throw pillows on each end of the house forced us a little closer to each other. Ray chuckled in response. 

"I don't buy anything that's less than the best dank I can find." He replied, emphasizing 'dank' to show he used the word in a joking manner. I laughed, not taking my eyes off the screen and focusing at the task at hand: proving that I was better than him at Portal. It really reflected our competitive nature, especially considering Portal isn't even meant to be competitive and instead a game about working together. 

"By the way, you never told me whether or not you wanted to go out with us tonight." Ray reminded me of the reason he showed up at my apartment in the first place. 

"Don't get me wrong, I would love to go, but are you sure you're all cool with it? I mean, I've only known you guys for two weeks and going out to the bar seems like a strict 'friends only' kind of thing." 

"You're right, it is a 'friends only' kind of thing." He replied. "And we already consider you a friend. I mean, you get along well enough with us, don't you? Either that or I clearly came to the wrong person's house today."

I chuckled. "Then sure, why the hell not?" I glanced up at the clock that hung on the wall in my living room. One in the afternoon. "When do we leave?" 

"Michael said he'd be by here with Lindsay to pick us up at eight." I nodded, glad I had enough time to come down from my high before going anywhere. I walked around the Portal level in confusion, a companion cube in my possession. "No, Charlie. You have to set up portals here and here to send the cube flying to me." He instructed, pointing at the screen. 

"Yeah yeah, I knew that." I lied, making my way over to the spots he highlighted. 

" _Charlotte Rose Cooper_ ," He began, and I felt the regret I felt instantly after giving him my full name earlier that week. He only ever used it when he wanted to hold something over me. "Am I besting you at your own favorite game?" 

"Absolutely not." I grumbled, dropping the cube through the first portal to get it over to him. "I just can't think that well when I'm high is all." 

"Wouldn't be the first time you lied to me today." He joked before I grabbed the pillow and swung it at him. He held his hands up and caught the pillow before it hit him, throwing it back at me. I playfully screamed and laughed as the pillow hit me. I set the controller down on my coffee table when the level was over, standing up to stretch. 

"I'm hungry. You want anything to eat? My food is your food." I asked Ray as I headed into the kitchen. Ray got up and followed me, taking a seat at the table set up just next to the kitchen. 

"Nah, I'm not hungry. I ate just before I came over here, actually." He replied as I opened cabinets, searching for something to eat. 

"Whatever, man. If you starve it's your own fault." I eventually settled on a can of Dr Pepper, too high and lazy to search any longer. I took a seat next to him at the table. "So, questerino." He nodded for me to continue. "From what I understand, you don't drink, right?" He nodded again. "Then why do you still go to the bar? I'm not really a big drinker either, so the few times when I do actually go out with friends they're all shitfaced and I'm just kinda there. How are you not bored out of your mind?" 

"Well, I never looked at it that way. I was always just happy to be hanging out with friends rather than sitting at home." He replied. 

"Well if that wasn't the most cheesy thing that's come from your mouth since I met you." I joked. He stuck his tongue out at me as I continued. "Seriously though, what do you even do there? Find a one night stand to take home with you?" 

"Nah, I wouldn't be able to date anyone right now if I wanted to." He replied seriously, and I realized he was too high to realize that I was joking. 

"I never said you were dating these girls, just taking them home to bang." 

"While in theory that sounds like a great idea, I'd rather avoid the chance of befriending crabs." 

"What kind of situation are you even in to be willing to bang a girl but not date her?" I asked.

"The kind of situation where you're not emotionally available to date anyone but you're still a man that thinks with his dick?" He retorted with a laugh. 

"Don't worry man, I know exactly where you're coming from." I was shocked I managed to say that to him. In a sober state, I would just nod and change the subject, avoiding the confrontation that I too was unable to handle being in a relationship with another human being. But, since I decided to get high, nothing stopped me from blurting out the first thing that came to my mind. He looked at me quizzically. "What? Women have their needs too." I say simply, and he laughed. 

"It's almost like we should start fucking." He joked, and for a minute or so I stayed silent until an idea came to mind, and before I could think of any possible outcomes it slipped out of my mouth.

"Why don't we?" Ray's eyes got big after I said that, and when he didn't reply I kept going. "I mean, we both want the same thing, which is sex without any emotional attachment, but we can avoid having to pick people up at a bar and sleeping with random strangers. We could get a nice 'friends with benefits' thing going." 

And without another hesitation, Ray leaned over and crashed his lips into mine. Before I knew it I had him straddled on my bed, our shirts hitting the floor one after the other. Our tongues explored each other's mouths, Ray's tongue pleased as it met the bar I had pierced through my tongue that he didn't seem to realize I had before then. I slid the glasses off his face as his hands reached up my hoodie, where I silently thanked myself for deciding not to where a shirt underneath it. 'Good guy Ray' suddenly turned into aggressive, dominant Ray as he flipped over to be on top of me, taking control of the situation as he pulled my shorts off. We parted from our kiss long enough to pull his own jeans off before he began nipping at my neck, sticking around in one spot long enough to where I knew it would leave a mark. I didn't care, I was enjoying every second of it. Not only had I not been laid in three years, but my high was leaving my skin more sensitive than usual, sending chills through my body everywhere he touched. Our hands were all over each other, my hands enjoying every inch he had to offer as he got harder, he having two fingers pumping in and out of me. I reached over with my free hand into the drawer of the nightstand by my bed until I felt the cool wrapper of a condom, and after I closed the drawer and brought it back over to Ray he took the condom out of my hand and tore the wrapper off, rolling it on. 

"Glad you're on board." I joked, not getting the chance to say it before then. He didn't say anything, responding only by smirking and climbing back on top of me.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the long wait on this chapter, I was just having a bit of writer's block as I had a general idea of what I wanted to do in this chapter, just not a full concept of it because this is honestly just a filler for the ideas I have planned out, so some of this may seem shitty and rushed. I'll actually have a scheduled day for updates at some point soon, I'm just not sure when or how often I'm going to be able to update yet.

I was being sluggishly pulled back into reality, but I fought it as I snuggled against my pillow to get a few extra minutes of sleep. My pillow was just so warm, and smooth, and...moving? I opened my eyes to see that my head was on a chest rather than my pillow, and I remembered what had happened just a few hours prior. My room was dimly lit by the dark orange light of dusk, so it was hard to see as I lazily rolled out of Ray's arm to stretch. The movement woke him up as well, and he began to shuffle around. 

"What time is it?" He asked groggily, and I shrugged before reaching over to my night stand to check my phone. The bright light stung my eyes, so I wasted no time finding the answer and turning my phone back off. 

"Just after six-thirty. We have about an hour and a half before Michael and Lindsay get here." I replied. I reached over to my nightstand again to turn on the small lamp that rested on it. I untangled myself from the mess of blankets to stand and further my stretching, realizing that I was still naked. I reached into my dresser to grab a change of clothes before making my way to the bathroom that connected to my bedroom. 

"Well that was...Different." Ray commented, and I could tell he was waiting for me to tell him whether my 'let's have sex' speech was because I was high or genuinely wanted it. I smiled. 

"I got really high, had sex, and slept all day. If anything, that was _awesome_." I replied. He chuckled and began to get dressed in the clothes we threw on the ground just a few hours earlier. I got to the bathroom door and turned the light on. "I'm gonna take a shower. You're welcome to chill here or do whatever while I'm in there."

"I think I'm gonna go raid your kitchen. I'm too lazy to walk back to my apartment to find food." 

"Fair enough." I said before slipping into the shower. When I stepped out, I dressed in an over sized red plaid shirt and jean shorts, too lazy to dress up in any way. After towel drying my hair, I was thankful for the flat iron I had, which was able to straighten hair while it was damp, and quickly ran it through my hair. I was stopped when I saw something dark in the corner of my eye, and I looked in the mirror to see a large red mark on my neck. I sighed, arranging my hair to poorly cover the hickey, hoping that nobody would see it, and if they did, didn't question. _God dammit Ray_. I didn't bother to do much with my make up besides concealer and eye liner before stepping out into the living room, seeing Ray pick through the small bookshelf that held all of my games. I went into my kitchen to make myself a sandwich before going back into my living room, watching Ray as he pulled out various games. 

"What kind of a loser still has a GameCube?" He asked, pulling out one of my Mario Party games. 

"Uh, the best kind? GameCubes are still one of the best consoles to this day." I replied, and he rolled his eyes. I sat on my couch and turned on my TV, not bothering to change the channel as I only cared for it to be background noise. Ray joined me on the couch. 

"So, is this really a good idea?" He asked. I shrugged. 

"Probably not, but at the same time the sex was fantastic." I replied

"The sex was _fantastic_." he quickly agreed. 

"I'm not gonna take back what I said, I still like where this is going, but if you don't think we should we can stop." 

"No, I like it. Nothing serious, just us messing around." He said. I nodded. 

"We probably shouldn't tell anyone though." He didn't reply, waiting for me to continue. "I've only been working there for two weeks, I'd rather avoid being labeled as the office slut yet."

" _yet_." he repeated with a chuckle. 

"Hell yeah man, you can't expect a fan girl to start working for rooster teeth and not try to sleep with all the employees." I joked. 

"No, you're right." He agreed after a minute. "This is probably something everyone will find weird." 

"Besides, sneaking around it just plain fun."

"Hell yeah it is." His phone went off as he finished his sentence, and he glanced down at it. "Michael and Lindsay are here."

I stood and followed him out the door, turning off the lights and tv along the way. Once we got down stairs and to the street, I finished my sandwich as Ray lead me to the Jones' little red car and we got into the backseat on either side. 

"So who's joining us tonight?" I asked as Michael pulled out of the complex. 

"We usually just hang out with Geoff and Gavin at a small bar, nothing big." Lindsay replied. I nodded, glad Lindsay was coming along as she was one of the few people I didn't get to talk to much since she was always busy around the office. 

I listened and laughed along as Ray and Michael talked, telling me stories of how Gavin always gets too drunk when they go out and Geoff gets loud. It was amazing to learn that they were pretty much exactly the same off camera as they were on, just less exaggerated and more laid back. We got to a small bar about twenty minutes away(in wherever-the-fuck, Texas because I still didn't know the area well). We parked and walked in, Geoff and Gavin already sitting at a booth with beers in their hand. Ray and I followed behind Michael and Lindsay to the bartender, each of them ordering their own drinks and Ray getting a bottle of water. Michael turned to me after everyone else finished ordering. 

"What are you drinking?" He asked. 

"Oh, I'm fine, I'm not thirsty." I replied.

"You drink to get drunk, not because you're _thirsty_." He scoffed.

"Oh yeah, about that," I started slowly, giggling. "I don't drink. I don't have anything against it, I just don't like the taste of it or dealing with hangovers in the morning or-"

"Nah, fuck that." Michael interrupted. "It sucks enough having one friend who doesn't get drunk. I'm not getting another pussy. Now order something." 

I sighed, learning in the two short weeks that I knew him that he was too stubborn to take no for an answer, and the bartender started tapping his fingers on the counter impatiently as he waited for me. I rolled my eyes before stepping forward to talk to the bartender. "Fireball and Dr. Pepper." I muttered in defeat. The bartender asked for an ID, and whether he was just asking me and not Michael or Lindsay was because he knew them or I'm just the only one that couldn't pass as 21, I wasn't sure. After showing my ID and putting it back in my wallet, I turned to the group waiting at the bar for their drinks. "You're lucky I just turned 21." I said, directing it at Michael. 

"Who the hell turns 21 and doesn't get shitfaced twice a day?" He shot back. 

"This 21 year old." I replied. "I don't know why, I just don't particularly enjoy it." The bartender placed our drinks on the counter and we began walking Geoff and Gavin's way. 

"Please tell me you at least got drunk on your 21st birthday." Lindsay mused, just as interested in the fact that I didn't drink. I shrugged. 

"Nope, never been drunk. What's the point of it if you're just going to have a hangover?"

"You only say that because you don't know what it's like to be drunk." Michael laughed. 

" _You're gonna learn tonight_." Lindsay said with a smirk. 

"I just told you that I don't drink. Besides, why doesn't Ray-" I was interrupted as we slid into the booth.

"You don't drink?" Geoff asked in surprise, sitting across from me. Geoff and I sat on one end, while Ray sat next to me and Gavin next to him. Lindsay sat in between Michael and Geoff. 

"Look Geoff, I'm still in the middle of hearing shit from Michael and Lindsay, I don't need to hear it from you, too." I joked, taking a sip from my drink. Apparently the bartender took 'Fireball and Dr. Pepper' as 'mostly Fireball with a drop of soda'. Which I didn't mind, the only reason why I knew of this drink mix was because Dina knew I liked cinnamon and she was in a weird alcohol exploration phase.

"So another words, we're getting Charlie drunk tonight?" Gavin piped in with a chuckle. 

"This is literally my first time hanging out with you guys and I'm already being forced into getting drunk." I giggled. While it was mildly annoying they were practically shoving alcohol down my throat, it was nice to think that not only did they care enough about me to worry about weather or not I was actually joining them in getting drunk(or they were just interested in seeing what I was like intoxicated), but that they were already comfortable enough with me to get me to do it. Not to mention that I didn't really have a problem with drinking it, I just didn't prefer to.

"I think what's more shocking is that you came with us to a bar and _didn't_ expect this to happen." Ray said, teasingly taking a sip out of his water, bragging about the fact that he didn't have alcohol in his hand. 

"So why doesn't Ray have to drink?" I shot back quickly, glaring at Ray.

"Oh, Ray already has his reasons and he's excused," Lindsay replied. 

"You, on the other hand, are just being a pussy about it." Michael added. I rolled my eyes, but couldn't help but smile. 

"You guys are ridiculous." 

As the hours we spent there increased, so did the drinks. I was sipping on my fourth fireball and was beginning to feel warm and giggly, laughing a little harder than I normally would at the conversations being passed along. As I hit my fifth it was starting to get uncomfortably warm and I moved my legs up to sit cross legged, letting my left knee rest on Ray's leg. I pushed my hair behind my shoulders to hopefully cool me down some. The conversation began to lean towards work, and Geoff started telling a story about something that had happened between him and Chris earlier that week. 

"So I walk into the kitchen to grab a beer and I see Chris walk in and- Jesus Christ I have tried ignoring it, but Charlie, that is a huge ass mark on your neck." Geoff blurted, being slightly more blunt about it than he usually would be because he was already in a half-drunken state, sucking down far more beers in the past three hours than I have of my own drink. I immediately began blushing as I remembered the hickey Ray left earlier, and I felt Ray shift uncomfortably. 

"What, you mean the gigantic burn my flat iron left earlier today?" I lied.

"You're a shitty liar." Michael chuckled. 

"Don't buy it, huh?" I replied with a smirk. Usually, I would've just denied it until they changed the subject, but because I was drunk the words slipped confidently from my mouth. The four of them shook their heads, each one of them seeing right through my lie. "Well," I stood, more off balance and drunk than I thought I was since I hadn't stood up since we got there. "You guys already got me to drink tonight to the point to where I'm not even sure I can make my way to the bathroom without stumbling." That earned a loud cackle from the group, Geoff's being the loudest and ringing throughout the already loud bar. "You don't get to dig into my personal life too. This mark is a story for another day." I finished with a wink, picking up my drink to chug the last bit of fireball I had left in there. "Should I get another round on my way back from the bathroom?" They all nodded as their glasses were close to empty. 

"I'm gonna go, too." Ray said, following me out of the booth. The rest of the group was too buzzed to notice the obvious connection between Ray's odd behavior and the hickey on my neck, simply nodding at Ray and listening to Geoff as continued the story he was trying to tell earlier.

"Good going, Dyson." I sneered as we walked away. 

"You weren't complaining while I was doing it, sweetheart." He replied with a devious smirk, clearly more proud of what he did rather than concerned that we almost got caught. I blushed at the sudden smug look and tone he was giving me. 

"Whatever." I quickly muttered, darting through the bathroom door. I heard Ray laugh as the door closed behind me. 

When I got back to the booth, Ray was already sitting back down. Nothing too special happened the rest of the night, save for the few times I stumbled and embarrassed myself over how drunk I was, which seemed to entertain everyone. Just like the stories Ray and Michael were telling me on the way here, Geoff did get loud and Gavin was almost as shitfaced as I was. Michael went from his usual hotheadedness to a more lighthearted happiness. Lindsay was mostly quiet throughout the night, more giggly than anything. Night turned into early morning as we decided to head home around three in the morning. I don't remember much of the night due to my intoxication, and I don't remember how we managed to get home considering Michael had been drinking(and definitely shouldn't have been driving), but we somehow managed to make it home in one piece, and I assumed Ray helped me up the stairs and into my apartment since I remember it was hard enough getting down the two steps at the front door of the bar. 

I woke up the next morning sprawled across my bed, a pounding in my head and vomit barreling up through my throat. I quickly rolled over, glad for my laziness a couple days ago when I left a bowl on my nightstand and hurled into it. Just like I had predicted and told Michael the previous night, the night of drinking was definitely _not_ worth the hangover, and I already knew I was going to loath the rest of the day.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (I promise these notes won't be on every chapter, I just have a lot to say I guess lol)  
> So, sorry if you came to this story expecting a bunch of smut(seeing as the entire story is centered around sex). tbh the author here is still a virgin, so not only do I have no clue what to write in when Ray and Charlie are doing the do, but I feel awkward doing it(I tried back in chapter two, but it got too awkward so I cut almost the entire thing lol). So, expect minimal smut, if any, throughout the story(although I may get ambitious sometime in the future and try it out again, who knows?)  
> Also, I don't think Lindsay and Michael actually live in the same complex as Ray, it's just sort of that way for the sake of the story.  
> OH. ONE MORE THING. I promise I have no intentions of offending anyone with the character's brother. The family in the story is pretty much an exact copy of mine, and Willy just happens to be a flaming homosexual. Not a single person in this house is straight, and we are very accepting of him, the jokes are just there because he fits the stereotype of a gay man all too well, and he even makes them himself. I'm sorry if anyone gets the wrong idea with what I wrote about him.

I wasn't sure what time I woke up when I threw up the first time, but I ended up falling back asleep and waking up around one in the afternoon, throwing up once more before heading to my living room to get high in the hopes of getting rid of my headache. Just as I finished my first bowl and my headache was still there, my cell phone started ringing. I looked at my I.D to see that Ali was calling me. 

"Yo." I greeted. 

"Hey, you never called me back or even texted me. You didn't get busted, did you?" She asked, annoyed with just a hint of concern. God dammit, why was my volume so loud?

"Damn dude, could you keep it down? My head is killing me." I asked, my annoyance matching her's. "Anyway, no, something amazing happened, actually." 

"Well you better start explaining, I had to finish that last bowl by myself." 

And so I told her the story of what happened as I felt my headache fade away, saving the best part of it for last. I knew I told Ray we shouldn't tell anyone, but I could trust my family and it was too hard to keep secrets from them when it was easy to tell them everything. They were going to find out no matter what Ray and I agreed on.

"Damn, sounds like a fun time." She said. "By the way, you're on speaker. Mom and Willy are listening."

"Well, Willy, either plug your ears or stop being gay." I warned. My brother was not only openly gay, but he was absolutely _flaming_. He had it all going on: the crazy classy fashion sense, the long, almost prettier than the girls in the family's hair, the lisp, the cringe whenever he heard anything heterosexual related. Most of the time he exaggerates the stereotype, playing along with all the jokes we make about him being gay(we were extremely accepting of his preference, it was just fun as hell to make jokes about). 

"Willy just walked out of the kitchen." My mom explained, giggling.

"Alright cool. Well, I'm not usually one to kiss and tell, but after Ray and I got high we started talking about relationships and such. One thing lead to another, and well..." I trailed off, letting Ali and my mom put two and two together. 

"You didn't _bang_ him, did you?" My mom shouted, and I heard a distant 'ew' in the background from my brother. I laughed. 

"Mother, absolutely not! What kind of a person do you think I am to just- okay yeah we totally did it."

"So are you two dating now?" Ali asked. 

"No, we decided we're just going to bang for the hell of it. We're still just friends." I saw my phone light up by my cheek, and I quickly looked down to see a text from Ray.

 _Ray: I can smell it from my apartment. I mean damn girl, do you even try to hide it?_ I smiled.

"You got laid by an _Achievement Hunter_ after just two weeks _and_ you're still free to hook up with the others? Go you!" I heard my mom yell enthusiastically while I had my phone away from my ear. "If you plan on sleeping with anyone else, please let it be Ryan on my behalf." I laughed. After I showed my mom a couple of Rooster Teeth and Let's Play: Minecraft videos about a year prior to that, she turned into a hardcore fan girl, taking a huge liking to Ryan and Barbara, telling me the many in detail(and disgusting) sexual things she would do if she met either of them. 

"Or you know, you could always visit me in Texas and do him yourself. He's married, though. I think Barbara's still single?" I joked. "But speaking of Ray, I gotta go. My booty call is calling." 

"You better give me details later! I wanna know if the 'Puerto Rican Thunder' holds up to his name."

"Ew mom, no. You remember I'm still your daughter, right?" 

"You remember that I need to know how good these people are in bed, right?"

"Okay! I'm hanging up now!" I quickly tapped the end button on my phone and set it down. I wasn't away from home very long and I was already starting to forget the raunchy nature of my mom. I picked my phone back up and replied to Ray. 

_I guess I just don't know how. Maybe you can come over later and teach me how to hide it?_ I texted back with sarcasm. I got up from the couch and headed to the bathroom to shower as Ray texted back. 

_Ray: I wish I could but I can't. Taking care of errands today_

_But bae, my parents aren't home_

_Lol seriously though, it's cool. I guess I'll just see you tomorrow morning then?_

_Ray: I'm on my way! Lol. Of course you will, I'll be waiting at the bottom of the stairs for you at 9:30 like I have been._

_You better be! Those stairs just don't look the same without you waiting for me next to them anymore lol_

I threw my phone and then myself onto the bed, curling up on top of the covers. If Ray wasn't coming over to see me today, there was no point in showering until later. I closed my eyes, letting myself drift off for the rest of the day. 

 

The first month and there were no regrets about what had happened that Saturday. I hung out at the bar with the group almost every Saturday night(with the occasional appearance of Griffon, though she hardly ever came out with us because someone had to stay behind to take care of Millie), and smoked with Ray every day, switching between my apartment and his. It was near impossible for us to keep our hands off each other, sex becoming almost a daily thing. We learned a lot about each other in that time. I learned that Ray liked having a little bit of power and control, and he enjoyed teasing me and seeing me frustrated when he took things a little too slow. He learned that, unlike most girls, I didn't like getting head but had no problem giving it. We learned what the other liked and didn't like. The sex partners idea was absolutely wonderful the first month.

The only setback was that Michael and Lindsay lived in the same complex as us, meaning that Michael was over at Ray's a lot. Not that I minded, I enjoyed hanging out with Michael and Lindsay, but Ray and Michael exchanged keys and Michael had always just walked into Ray's apartment without knocking, causing us to almost get caught by him multiple times. Ray locked his door whenever we were doing something though, so we at least had the warning of the the door jingling as he unlocked it.

A little over a month later and I was sitting at my desk at work, sighing as I picked through Jack's video footage of the last Minecraft Let's Play they filmed. I saw my phone light up in the corner of my eye, and I slid my headphones off to look at the message. 

_Ray: I can't wait until you come over tonight_ I rolled my eyes with a small smile, already figuring out where he was going with that. 

_This is the third time this week you've tried to turn me on over text. You know it's not going to work this time._ I sent back, my smile growing. I set my phone down and stretched before reaching to put my headphones back over my ears. 

"What if I whispered to you in person instead?" A voice whispered in my left ear. I jumped and whipped around in my chair to see Ray right in front of me. 

"Jesus, Ray! Don't scare me like that!" I playfully scolded, holding a hand over my chest. He laughed. 

"It's not my fault you're a jumpy person." He replied. I quickly looked to either side of me to make sure no one was around to hear us. 

"You know, I can always just stop hanging out with you and leave you alone with your right hand." I quickly retorted. He just smirked. 

"No you can't." In the month since we started having sex, it was sad to learn that I was a bigger horn dog than he was, and he took every opportunity he could to joke about it. I felt myself begin to blush, and before I could say anything Geoff popped his head out of the Achievement Hunter door. He glanced at my flustered expression before looking at Ray. 

"If you two are done flirting, I would kind of like to have Ray back. I'm getting him and Michael set up for the next Hunt." I felt my blush deepening when he said 'flirt'. 

"We're not flirting." I replied blankly as Ray made his way past Geoff into the Achievement Hunter office. 

"Don't worry Charlie, I believe you." He said, though clearly a lie as his words were full of sarcasm. 

"Someone's obviously been married far too long to notice the difference between flirting and a casual conversation." 

"Ouch, way to make a man feel old." He walked over to my desk and leaned against the wall next to it. "So how's that video coming along?"

"I just have to finish picking out what parts of Jack's footage to use and figure out the places they need to go. The video should be ready to go by the end of the day." 

"That's what I like to hear." He sat there for a few moments in silence, pursing his lips and looking down at the ground as if he was debating on saying what was on hid mind. "You know, Ray talks about you a lot." He finally blurted out. Wait, what? I began to blush just as I felt my cheeks cool down from the last time. 

"Yeah? Well, we hang out every day. It's not really a surprise that I come up in a few of his stories." I quickly dismissed. While that was true, we were banging most of the time, and it's not like he could talk about that. But talking about me couldn't mean anything, we already agreed that our relationship wasn't going to come with any attachment, but again, it's not like I could tell Geoff that. I avoided eye contact as I looked back down at my computer screen, and I heard him sigh. 

"No, I mean, I think he likes you, Charlie." He continued. 

"Is this like that thing people did back in the seventh grade where a guy is too afraid to ask a girl out so he sends his friend to do it for him?" I asked, joking yet slightly annoyed. 

"I'm just letting you know. You two seem to hit it off pretty well."

"Yes, Geoffrey, that kind of thing happens when you two people become friends." 

"Hey, don't get sassy with me when I'm trying to help you." 

"And how are your misread signals about Ray helping me, exactly?" 

"You guys have been flirting non stop since you started working here, I'm just trying to speed things up a little." _Kind of hard to speed things up when you're already behind there, Geoff._

"I repeat, we're not flirting." I grumbled, my frustration growing. Seriously, where the hell is this coming from?

"So you're telling me I can get just as close to you as Ray did just a minute ago and you'd be blushing just as hard?"

"I need my personal space and you're old enough to be my dad, of course I'd blush just as bad, it'd be creepy." I joked. He didn't reply. "Look, I'm just trying to put your little head to rest by telling you that I don't have any feelings for Ray and Ray doesn't have any feelings for me." He pushed himself off the wall and turned to go back into the Achievement Hunter office. 

"God, you're just as in denial as Ray is." He muttered. My eyes widened and my head snapped to look at him. Did he talk to him?

"Wait, what did you say to Ray?" I asked, my voice more demanding than the nonchalant tone I was hoping for. He turned to look at me, a devious smirk planted on his lips.

"If you two don't have feelings for each other it shouldn't matter what I said to him." He replied simply.

"It doesn't." I murmured, looking back at my computer screen to avoid looking into his eyes. My cheeks were on fire, a furious blush escaping on my cheeks. "I just want to make sure you didn't tell him things about me that aren't true." He chuckled. 

"Whatever you say, Charlie." He called out, walking back in the office and shutting the door behind him, _without_ telling me what he said to him. I sighed, pushing my headphones back on and getting back to editing.

My mind was in a haze the rest of the day, never leaving the conversation with Geoff. Did he really mean what he said? Did he really think Ray was developing feelings for me? I mean, how could he be? I was around him all the time, I would have noticed something like that. I tried recalling the times we hung out and really thought about how he acted. The jokes he made around me, his caring nature despite his usual sarcastic tone, our playfully competitive games that always had me cracking up, his loud yet sweet and almost childish laugh, his large brown eyes and how they gleamed whenever they looked into mine, the way he wrapped his arms around me whenever he hugged me, the-

Whoa, what? I was thinking just a little too hard. I shook it off, trying to focus my attention back on editing. There was no way Ray liked me, and there was no way I liked him. We were just close friends that happened to do each other the favor getting both of us laid, and hung out all the time, and playfully fought over video games, and occasionally cuddled when we got too high to get off the couch and ended up falling asleep there instead, and-

 _Dammit Charlie!_ By the end of the day I hadn't got the one video done that I was working on earlier, which I blamed Geoff for leaving me confused for the entire day. While I was shutting down my computer and getting ready to leave, I finally pushed it out of my mind. I had no romantic intentions with Ray, nor did I plan on it, and I wasn't going to sit around and think about it for the rest of the night just because Geoff thinks I do. I stood at the door of he Achievement Hunter office and waited for him and he shoved a few things into his backpack. He didn't notice me until he finished packing and stood, and I watched his face light up as I leaned against the door frame.

"Hey, you about ready to go?" He asked as he headed toward me.

"No, I just thought standing by the door and waiting for you would be a good waste of time." I joked. He playfully pushed me out of the doorway with a smile and roll of his eyes. 

"Shut up." He laughed as we walked down the hall to the front door. "So where are we going tonight, your place or mine?" 

"Well, I don't know about your place, but mine has pizza rolls." I replied.

"Sold."

The rest of the night went on as expected; We got back to my apartment, smoked a couple of bowls, went through an entire bag of pizza rolls as we played Left 4 Dead(which was one of the few games I was able to not only beat him at, but completely annihilate him in), and gave up halfway through the game to have sex on my couch. I was finally wrapped up in my covers and about to fall asleep when the thought hit me one last time: _Did Geoff genuinely think Ray had feelings for me or was he just messing with me?_


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (this is the last note I swear)  
> As I was thinking about what I wanted to do for future chapters, I realized that a lot of the ideas that I had when I first started writing this fic and Charlie's actions later on won't make sense to anyone because I haven't spent nearly as much time with Charlie's character development as I should have so far, and there was no way for me to naturally fit in her life story as Charlie is the type of character to push her past to the side and pretend it didn't happen. Her past may seem a little 'Mary Sue'ish, but I literally just stole my own life story and stuck it to Charlie(and I mean I didn't bother to change a thing, I have no creativity lol), so it's more realistic than you may think.  
> This chapter involves next to no interaction with any of the Achievement Hunters any the only tiny sliver of plot progression is in the last paragraph, so if you decide not to read this chapter it won't really affect you later, it's just a small character expansion and explanation chapter. I'll have another chapter posted within the next few days, so you won't be missing much if you don't want to read this one.

I woke up relatively early for what I usually did on those Sunday mornings after a night out with the gang, and I was lucky that this sudden early bird attitude hadn't hit me after one of the few times that I joined them in drinking and got a pounding headache the next morning. On Sundays I normally didn't get a text from Ray about hanging out until noon, so I had four and a half hours of lazing around my house while I waited for Ray to wake up. I lay curled up on my couch with the TV playing a marathon of Friends when I got a call from Dina. I smiled, always ecstatic to hear from the quirky, raunchy, and insane family back home that I missed. 

"Yo." I greeted when I answered the phone. 

"Hey, sweetie." She began, and by the softness and the (while she would never admit it to me, it was there) pity in her tone I already knew what the conversation was going to be about. "Mary called last night."

"And?" I replied, monotone to make it sound like I was indifferent to the news that I heard. Mary was the woman who gave birth to me, and I had made it clear when I left my birth parents' house that I didn't want any connection with them. I got a call from them every once in a while, my birth mother claiming that she had a right to keep in touch with me. I didn't like hearing anything that had to do with them; Any time a memory from my old life came up or Mary called me drunkenly at two in the morning yelling and crying over the repetitive music from the slot machines at some casino I was instantly thrown into a depression. I heard my mom sigh over the phone. 

"Charlie, I know you said you wanted to cut your parents out of your life-"

"Damn right I did." I interrupted.

"-And I can't make you do anything you don't want to do, but you should really talk to your mother. She has no idea what's going on in your life, hell, she doesn't even know you left Arizona."

"That woman may have given birth to me, but she is far from being my mother." I replied sharply, only seeming to get angrier the more I had to repeat those words. "She legally gave me up seven years ago when I was fourteen, meaning she gave up the right to know me past that point, and even before that point she didn't even care." I sighed to try and calm myself a little, realizing I was aiming my anger too heavily on the woman who was only trying to help. "Thanks for letting me know, mom, but I don't plan on contacting her anytime soon." 

Either my mom didn't notice how my voice cracked at the last syllable, giving away that I was close to crying, or she didn't say anything about it. "I'll text you her number just in case you change your mind." 

"I'm deleting it as soon as you send it to me, but if you still want to waste a few minutes of your morning sending it to me anyway, feel free to do so."

"Alright Charlie, I'll talk to you later." We said our goodbyes and hung up, and I was glad for the fact that my mom was just as bad at talking about serious topics as I was, making for brief conversations whenever they came up. The grip around my phone tightened as I lowered it from my ear, trying to hold back the tears that blurred my vision. Memories of my childhood came flooding back to me just as I thought I had forgotten them and replaced them with the memories of the family I had now, a rush of anger at the desolate and decrepit past. My heart was suddenly pounding too fast for me to sit in one place, so I got off the couch and began pacing around the house, eventually landing me in the kitchen where I hoped a glass of water would cool me off some. I grabbed a cup with shaky hands, now imagining what my birth parents were doing at the moment they decided it was a good idea to call. They were probably out with their usual group of friends doing their usual poker tournaments, the only release my parents could get for their gambling addiction in between driving up state or to Vegas to hit up the casinos(even though they commonly did that on a weekly basis anyway). Mary probably sucked up enough alcohol to push the limits of her body's ability to handle it and Walt probably got higher than the Empire State, both too intoxicated to remember that they were coming home to a house that I didn't inhabit anymore. My birth mother was always an emotional drunk after she had calmed down from the partying she had done, so she probably decided to call my mom, unable to call me directly as I refused to give her my number. She would slur out how much she missed me, how much she wished my room wasn't empty and haunted with the child she used to own, and it was all just complete _bullshit_ that came from her alcohol stained lips. There was no way she cared for me now that I was gone when she couldn't give less of a shit when I was under her roof. My birth parents had no problem leaving me to fend for myself as they left to relieve their gambling habit, most of the time not coming home for days at a time. They hadn't cared about my health enough to leave any trace of food behind when they left, leaving my older sister and I to go hungry most days. They didn't care that they were leaving the house alone with a four year old and a fourteen year old in the shadiest neighborhood of Apache Junction. They didn't care that my sister and I were left to sleep in the same bed together, too terrified to be left in our own beds for the fear of some crack head breaking into our house at night. They didn't care that my sister had gotten a job at the age of fifteen to support the two of us when the money our parents made went straight into slot machines and poker games, leaving a five year old to cry in an empty house by herself while Amber worked hard everyday to get what little food we could. They didn't treat us like their children, hell, I'm not even sure they knew they had children half the time. I was left in the ghettos of Arizona, afraid and alone, without a mother to comfort me, and my mother's mind was centered on finding the next few bucks to pay for their next card game. They only pretended to care when they called to make themselves feel better, their rotten self-righteousness clinging to me, and they were too selfish to care that it physically hurt me to think about them. 

My anger got the better of me as I whipped around and used all of my strength to throw my cup at the nearest wall, the thick glass shattering the moment it made contact with the wall. After releasing that rage, I backed up against the fridge and slid down it, a wave of sorrow washing over me as I finally burst into tears. I brought my knees up to wrap my arm around them and buried my face into my knees, my right hand hooked onto my left arm as my left hand still clutched tightly to my phone. My sobs were merciless and uncontrollable, so I couldn't bring myself to look at my phone when I felt it vibrate in my hand. I stayed unable to move, curled up against the fridge for a few minutes as it started to get harder to breathe in between choked sobs, tears streaming down my face. This lasted for longer than I was hoping for, but eventually I had calmed down enough to lift my head up and glance at my phone. One text came from my mom, sending me the familiar series of numbers I never wanted to look at again, and like I had told her I deleted the message right away. The other one came from Ray.

_Ray: Holy shit, was that noise coming from your apartment? Are you okay?_

It was then that I remembered that my kitchen was right above his room, and I sighed, letting my phone sit open to the message while I thought of a reply. By the time I was 6 I had learned that my sister was being strong for my sake, and that she didn't like to see me cry. I wanted to be strong for her, too, so I began to hold back my tears, growing up to be a stoic person who refused to cry in the hardest of times, and if I did cry, to hide it from everyone and keep to myself. Not to mention that I didn't want to bother Ray with my problems, so I carefully typed out a lie to send back to him. 

_Haha yeah, I just dropped a plate and it broke. Sorry if it woke you up_

__I barely had the energy to reply to him as my past continued to race through my head, much less to clean up the mess I had made, so I instead sluggishly stood up and headed into my room, not bothering to turn off the TV along the way. I curled up on top of my covers in my bed as Ray responded._ _

_Ray: It did, but don't worry about it. By the way, are we going to be at my place or yours?_

While I had calmed down enough to not be a sobbing mess on the floor of my kitchen, tears still rolled down my cheeks. I knew the rest of the day was going to be spent in an off mood, and I didn't want Ray to see it. 

_Sorry dude, can't hang today. Gotta take care of some stuff_

I tossed my phone onto my nightstand, not bothering to look at his reply as everything replayed. 

I was born into a family that was barely making enough money to get by, having a self owned business refinishing cabinets, not making much. While I don't remember it, my parents were actually there during my infancy, helping me learn to walk and teaching me how to speak. Playing house with a new baby seemed to get old quick though, and pretty soon my parents were spiraling into a gambling addiction, starting off with just leaving for a weekend once every few months to vacation to Las Vegas. It seemed pretty innocent until eventually they were going every month, then every few weeks. They were pretty heavy stoners, and their drug dealer also ran poker tournaments, which they got sucked into when they couldn't afford to go to Vegas. By the time I was three my parents were never home, and while for the first year they at least had the courtesy of sending me to day cares, they eventually stopped, leaving my thirteen year old sister to take care of me herself. They were gone for days at a time, and on days where they were home everyday, they still didn't get home until midnight. Even when they were home they rarely went grocery shopping and in their laziness picked up food from the McDonald's down the street. What little money they were making went towards the rent to the shitty trailer in Apache Junction and their card games, and since the trailer park we were in housed a bunch of crack heads and our trailer only consisted of two small girls, our home was open to robbery almost all the time. My sister often slept in my bed with me on the nights my parents weren't home as her window was right next to the front door, where thieves would poke their heads through the window to see if anyone was home. 

Despite how young my sister was, she tried her hardest to take care of me and was the only person I ever really trusted. She got a job when she was fifteen, earning enough money to get a car and taking small trips to the grocery store to get food, and even if she was only ever able to afford Ramen it was much better than constantly eating McDonald's. We always talked about running away, but she never had the money to escape with me. Even though she had the money saved up to leave by the time she was 18, she chose to stay with me as she wouldn't of had enough money to take me with her. I didn't have many friends growing up as I was always that weird poor kid who didn't have any social skills, but I finally befriended Ali when I was thirteen, and after her mom saw the kind of house I lived in fought to get custody of me and took me into her house.

It could have been worse. My parents never abused us or abandoned us completely, and I was able to get out by the time I was 14 years old. I should have been able to put it all behind me by then, and for the most part I did, but remembering those events just rekindled how lonely it felt when I didn't have any parents or friends. It was also miserable to think about how different a person I could have been had I grown up normally. While I had managed to put trust into Ali and her family after some time, I don't get too close to someone. It's the reason why I've never had a boyfriend or girlfriend, it's the reason why I couldn't make friends even after I became acceptable to the other kids in high school. I hide myself behind sarcasm and avoid any form of serious conversation to make up for the lack of social skills I never learned. There are so many simple things I can't do because I was never taught, from riding a bike or even knowing how to properly use a knife at the dinner table(that was a pretty embarrassing night when my second family saw me trying to hack up my pork chop with a knife because I didn't know what I was doing). Despite the fact that I'm not close with anyone, I'm a needy person who needs to know things in advance and have everything in a schedule because of how much it sucked having a childhood that was always up in the air and parents that were always unpredictable. I could have been such a better person, with goals and aspirations, and an education past high school. Not that I was complaining, I was working at my dream job with the best family I could imagine supporting me, and I was actually starting to make friends with those in the office, but I've always been stuck wondering what could have been if I had grown up normally. 

Even after I had spent the entire day in bed feeling sorry for myself and trying my hardest to push these feelings out of my mind before work the next morning, I was still out of focus and stuck in my own head. Many of my employees asked if I was okay and some even tried to cheer me up, and while they were only trying to help it felt more like they just took pity on me and it annoyed me more and more as the day went on. The only person who managed to actually make me feel better was Ray, because even though he could tell something was wrong with me he didn't ask questions or even acknowledge it, and instead turned my glum into laughter after we had gone back to his apartment at the end of the day. It was nice knowing that I was friends with someone like Ray, and for the first time while I was having one of those fits of depression, I went to bed with a smile on my face. Ray was slowly easing his way into becoming one of the closest friends I've ever had, and I couldn't have been happier that he was doing so. 


	7. Anyone out there?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Not an actual chapter, just me rambling

Holy shit it's been forever since I've been on this site. I don't really have an excuse as to why I stopped writing this, but after coming back and reading it I want to continue it again. I don't know how many people were actually following this story, or if any of these people will even see this since it's been like 9 freaking months, but expect another chapter out of me sometime soon, like in a few days or a week...just eventually


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